Shadows In The Faded Light
by xSarcasticNinjax
Summary: Because the worst thing about having a crush is when they don't notice you at all.


**And here we are, another one-shot from the very sarcastic, very ninjatic ninja.**

**About a she-cat with a crush.**

**Yay.**

**This one's been in the works for SUCH. A. LONG. LONG. LONG. TIME, but I just couldn't decide a good ending. It was really annoying. Now, after a lot of hard work and procrastination, it's out! YAY!**

**This chapter is based on Invisible by Taylor Swift. I was originally going to make this a one-shot based completely on Invisible, but I wanted to add more and it didn't all fit in with Invisible, so each chapter is going to have one song from each of Taylor's albums (First chapter: Taylor Swift, second chapter: Fearless, third chapter: Speak Now, fourth chapter: Red). I'm not sure if I'm going to do 1989, but we'll see.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Erin Hunter reserves that right. I can only wish that I came up with the idea earlier. **

Shadows In The Faded Light

Featherpaw trotted into camp, some pike and salmon hanging from her jaw. Her hunting patrol had been very successful; each cat was carrying at least three fish.

Featherpaw could feel a different atmosphere in the camp. Cats were pacing around and talking in hurried whispers, glancing every so often at Leafstar's den. Featherpaw quickly dropped her prey off at the freshkill pile and jogged over to her best friend, Whitepaw.

"What's going on?" she hissed into his ear.

Whitepaw turned around and opened his mouth to answer, but the appearance of Leafstar stopped his words. The entire camp fell silent.

"I have made a decision," she announced. _About what?!_ Featherpaw thought in frustration. _What in the name of StarClan is going on? _"He is to stay."

Half the camp went into an uproar.

A quarter simply stared expressionlessly.

A small few padded over to congradulate a black tom. Featherpaw blinked, only just noticing him. His dark fur was rather scruffy, but his eyes were a shocking ice-blue compared to his fur color.

"Whitepaw," Featherpaw tried one more time.

Whitepaw turned to her. "Mudheart's patrol found that tom on the border. Apparently, his mother abandoned him and his father's dead. The patrol brought him back to camp, and Leafstar just agreed for him to stay."

Featherpaw blinked. _Wow._

The tom turned and for one split-second, their eyes met before Featherpaw looked down. She could still feel his eyes bruning into her fur as she kept avoiding his eyes and after what seemed like eternity, he looked away.

* * *

><p><em>Eight months later...<em>

Featherpaw padded over to the freshkill pile and selected two small minnows. Picking them up in her jaw, she glanced around, looking for a spot where she could eat.

Spotting Whitepaw, Featherpaw padded over to the young white tom and plopped down next to him. The two best friends ate in comfortable silence.

A flash of black fur in Featherpaw's peripheral vision caused her to turn her head. Her heart caught in her throat when she realized who it was.

After Reedpaw had officially joined RiverClan, the Clan had warmed up to him and he had many friends. Featherpaw didn't remember when it started, but she had began harboring a crush on him and no matter how hard she tried to stop, she couldn't.

Why must she stop, you ask?

Silverpaw.

Silverpaw's silky fur shone like the full moon and her eyes were a striking ice-blue. Her delicate tread was as gentle as mist and her sweet voice was soothing and mellow.

Featherpaw's own fur was a dull muddy brown, and her eyes were a boring shade of yellow. The contrast between her eyes and her fur was simply ugly. Featherpaw's voice was naturally loud and boisterous and her fur was almost always scruffy and dirty from rolling around in the dust while wrestling with Whitepaw.

There was no way she could compare to Silverpaw, and she knew it.

Featherpaw knew that Reedpaw and Silverpaw would become mates one day. She knew. So she told herself to find a new crush so that she wouldn't be too heartbroken when Reedpaw and Silverpaw became official.

She couldn't. She tried, tried so hard to stop. Stop liking him. But how could she, with Reedpaw's glossy black fur, his bad-boy attitude, the way his eyes lit up when he laughed? He was her perfection.

"Featherpaw?" Whitepaw's voice jolted her out of her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Featherpaw muttered. _I'm really not._

Featherpaw quickly finished her remaining minnow and buried the bones in the soft dirt.

"I'm going fishing," she told Whitepaw, standing up. All of a sudden, she needed to get away. Away from Reedpaw's and Silverpaw's "friendship". Away from the suffocating confines of the camp. Away.

"Do you want me to come?" Whitepaw offered, looking concerned.

Featherpaw shook her head. "It's okay."

"Bring a trout back for me," Whitepaw called teasingly to her as she headed for the entrance. Featherpaw rolled her eyes playfully.

"Go catch one yourself," she called back.

"Meanie," she heard Whitepaw mutter, and it was only the thought of Silverpaw and Reedpaw that kept her laugh from ringing out.

* * *

><p>Featherpaw quickly caught a small minnow and some salmon so that she wouldn't return to the camp empty-pawed.<p>

She sat down on the banks of the river, her prey at her feet. Leaf-bare was right around the corner and the trees had already been stripped of their leaves. It was a rather chilly day, so not many cats were out fishing. The ones that were were all downstream, where there were more, fatter fish.

Featherpaw closed her eyes and conjured an image of Reedpaw in her mind. She let out a small breath as she imagined his handsome face.

Silverpaw's face flashed in her mind. Surprisingly, as hard as she tried, Featherpaw wasn't angry or jealous of Silverpaw. She only felt...

Hopeless.

Confused.

Desperate.

_What does Silverpaw have that I don't?_

_Other than her looks, of course. Why do the toms always have to go for the silver-furred ones? _

_What do I have to do to get him to just notice me?_

_StarClan, please. Tell me what to do._

Featherpaw's mind flashed back to that morning , when Hailheart, the deputy, was organizing patrols. Featherpaw had been grooming herself when she saw Reedpaw chatting with his friend Otterpaw.

Hailheart had called Silverpaw to be on the border patrol with her mentor. As the silver she-cat walked by, Reedpaw just stopped talking to stare at her.

_What do I have to do to get him to stare at me like that?_

A small tear slipped down Featherpaw's cheek.

Featherpaw stayed by the stream for a long time, longer than she cared to count. She just sat there with her tail wrapped neatly around her paws, her head bowed and her eyes closed, thinking about Reedpaw.

A cold wind caused Featherpaw to shiver. Fish forgotten, she hesitantly got to her feet and started to slowly pad back to camp.

**Please leave review! Compliments will be used to boost my ego, constructive critism will be used to improve my writing skills, flames will be used to burn my homework.**

**So basically all reviews are welcome.**


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